Travis Bazzana talks baseball and cricket with his idol

This story is an excerpt from Mandy Bell's Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click hereAnd . subscribe to receive it regularly in your inbox.

When front offices scout high school and college players, they have mountains of video to watch. Sometimes, if an athlete plays another sport, they have clips of him playing basketball or football. But rarely does a team have to sift through cricket videos.

The Guardians covered their bases when they met Travis Bazzanawho eventually their #1 overall choice in the 2024 MLB Draft. Not only did they know everything he did on the field while playing at Oregon State and in high school in Australia, they also had an eye on how he performed in his cricket games.

Bazzana was a multi-sport athlete. He didn’t mind picking up a tennis racket and hitting tennis balls. Bazzana’s mother would throw cricket balls to him in the backyard. He would go to a park and kick a soccer ball around or play touch rugby with his friends. It happened to be baseball that Bazzana was most drawn to. But that didn’t mean other sports weren’t important to him.

“It's crazy to be here talking to you because I grew up watching cricket all my life,” Bazzana said.

Cummins and Jake Fraser-McGurk, a teammate of his from the San Francisco Unicorns, were on the other end of the line, asking the new Clevelander questions. The first was: Did you really play cricket and baseball at the same time?

Baseball and cricket were always my two main sports growing up, Bazzana explained. It was backyard [cricket] with my mother and my father and my friends. And then I started playing as a real team representative cricket at about 10 [years old]But I've been playing baseball all the time.

I knew that baseball was my passion and what I wanted to do. But I really enjoyed cricket and a lot of my best friends played cricket. So I did that, and when it got a bit more serious at 16, when you start thinking about moving to the US and the best path forward, I had to chill out a bit with cricket. But I still played Shires [cricket competition] when I was about 17, just before I moved to the US

For Cummins, who won the ICC International Cricketer of the Year award in 2019, the next question was obvious. There are two different swings: did you look more like a baseball player than a cricketer?

I looked like a cricketer for the most part, Bazzana said with a grin. I wasn't the best straight bat. If a cricket batting coach saw me when I was 16, they'd say, Yeah, he's OK. But you know, his bat could be a bit straighter. [It] could have been more forward over the ball. But I definitely had a bit more elevation in my game than a pure batsman.

It was clear that Cummins was Bazzana's cricket hero growing up, so the question of favourite cricketer didn't need to be asked. However, the two Unicorns teammates decided to ask Bazzana which Major League players he admires from afar.

It's always something to watch Aaron Judge hit, Bazzana said. But I would say, like Bobby Witt Jr.'s athleticism, he runs and he looks like a gazelle. When you talk about presence, you know how some guys just, on a court, have a presence that's powerful and they have so much confidence. Juan Soto, when he hits, has that presence. And you'll see it, and he looks like he's going to hit and do great.

Bazzana is just beginning his professional baseball career. He has played eight games for the High-A Lake County Captains and has not really found his groove yet (although he has played a grand slam to his name).

Baseball has always been in Bazzana’s blood, and the Guardians have no doubt he’ll flourish the more he plays this season and beyond, no matter what level he plays at. But Cummins wants to make sure Bazzana remembers where he came from, so he invited Bazzana to train with him when he returns to his home country.

I should have a practice net the day before, Bazzana said, laughing. I would be so rusty.